* KLM, Ahold, ABN Amro among those to get letters
* Milieudefensie seeks science-aligned net-zero plans
* Warns court an option if companies slow to move
(Adds other companies receiving letters; edits)
By Anthony Deutsch and Simon Jessop
AMSTERDAM/LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Dutch wing of
environmental group Friends of the Earth, which won a landmark
court victory against Royal Dutch Shell last year, is
targeting 30 major corporate emitters of greenhouse gases in a
campaign launched on Thursday.
Milieudefensie has set its sights on large companies with
legal bases in the Netherlands, where a court ruled in May that
Shell must reduce its environmental footprint.
The heads of the companies were being sent letters demanding
that they provide plans outlining how they will trim emissions
of the heat-trapping gases by 45% from 2019 levels by 2030. A
failure to do so may result in legal action, said Peer de Rijk,
policy officer at Milieudefensie.
"We are very clear that in the end, if needed, we are
willing to go to court. But of course we are hoping these
companies will be moving by themselves," De Rijk told Reuters in
an interview.
"We are willing to engage in talks, but we are in a hurry as
well, so we won't accept talks for the sake of talks
themselves," he said. "Climate science is very clear. This is
exactly what is needed."
Shell is appealing against The Hague district court order to
cut emissions in line with the 2015 Paris agreement.
Among leaders in finance, retailers, oil and energy majors,
builders and industrial manufacturers on the list are KLM, the
Dutch arm of airline Air France KLM, ABN Amro bank
and supermarket operator Ahold Delhaize.
"You lead an enterprise with control over and influence on a
substantial amount of CO2 emissions. An enterprise that can and
must contribute to the system change necessary to prevent
dangerous climate change," a draft letter seen by Reuters said,
asking: "Are you a frontrunner or a straggler?"
Some of the businesses are "small in the Netherlands itself,
but they have a very large, international, global impact and the
Shell verdict very clearly states that it is ...possible to hold
them accountable for their global emissions via the Dutch law,"
he said.
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The move by Milieudefensie follows a commitment by countries
to accelerate their emissions reductions at the COP26 climate
talks in Glasgow in November, with investors managing $130
trillion in assets https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/wrapup-politicians-exit-cop26-130tn-worth-financiers-take-stage-2021-11-03
signing up to net-zero and pressuring companies to ensure their
plans are good enough.
The broadening out of Milieudefensie's campaign also comes
against a backdrop of increased climate-related litigation
globally, with more than 1,000 cases brought since 2015 https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/global-trends-in-climate-litigation-2021-snapshot,
research from the London School of Economics showed.
Milieudefensie set a three-month deadline until April 15 for
the companies to present a climate plan. They will be used to
set an emissions baseline against which progress in cutting
climate-heating gasses can be measured, the group said.
Other companies receiving a letter were: Pension fund ABP,
insurer Aegon, paint maker AkzoNobel, insurer Atradius, builder
BAM Groep, dredger Boskalis Westminster, oil company BP, Dow
Chemical, nutrition maker DSM, oil company ExxonMobil, dairy
group FrieslandCampina, bank ING Groep, airline KLM, chemical
manufacturer LyondellBasell, insurer NN Group, pension fund
PfZW, Rabobank, energy company RWE, Schiphol airport, oil major
Shell, car producer Stellantis, Tata Steel, products group
Unilever, Uniper energy, food group Vion, commodities trader
Vitol, Vopak storage and Yara chemical.
KLM said it has committed to aligning its net-zero pathway
with climate science, and planned to use more sustainable
aviation fuel.
An ABN spokesperson said the bank supported efforts to limit
global warming and was working to reduce emissions from its
lending.
Ahold Delhaize said it had not yet received the official
letter and could not comment.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam and Simon Jessop in
London; Editing by William Maclean)
